Mauricio Pochettino suggests Enzo Fernandez could be moved into more advanced role at Chelsea
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has suggested Enzo Fernandez could be moved into an even more advanced role following Carney Chukwuemeka’s injury blow. The Blues were already without marquee summer signing Christopher Nkunku, who is out of action until December, and have now lost Chukwuemeka after he damaged his knee against West Ham at the weekend.
To make matters worse, Mykhailo Mudryk – who came on in place of the teenager at the London Stadium – has subsequently picked up an injury in training, leaving Chelsea very light on options in the attacking positions.
While Pochettino is keen to try and secure reinforcements before the window closes, he says his side will need to ‘compensate’ in that area and is considering using Fernandez further forward.
Enzo Fernandez given more freedom
The Argentine World Cup winner, who joined from Benfica in a £107million deal in January, has already been given more freedom and license to roam by Pochettino this season but could now be pushed even further forward with Conor Gallagher another option he is considering.
Asked how he will look to replace Chukwuemeka and Nkunku, Pochettino told Sky Sports: ‘We have Gallagher and we have Enzo, who we can use as an eight or a 10. We are going to adapt.’
On the decision to give Fernandez more freedom, the Chelsea boss continued: ‘He is a No 8. One of the first things when we met him is to talk about his position and how he feels comfortable, and then to talk about his quality.
‘He needs some freedoms. He has the quality to assist, to shoot from outside the box.’
Encouraging signs for Chelsea
Chelsea are yet to record a victory under their new manager, drawing against Liverpool and losing away to West Ham, but there have been plenty of encouraging signs and Pochettino is confident results will come – starting against Luton Town on Friday.
‘It’s not time to think in a different way. I saw very positive things and we need to keep the positives and improve in the areas we need to improve,’ he explained.
‘It’s going to be tough. It’s a very physical team, Luton, that do very good things. We know very well what we are going to find. We need to be competitive and clear in the way we are going to play and defend.
‘We need to improve from last week and then the consequence is to have the three points. But the most important thing is the way we are going to play – it’s not only to win.
‘Sometimes you win games but, in the end, you go down. But if you wait a little bit, with patience to build something, maybe the results will not arrive when you are playing well but you can be consistent and end the season where you deserve to be.’
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